


Floral Print

by TrashFoot



Category: Linkin Park
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:54:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24476821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashFoot/pseuds/TrashFoot
Summary: In this Florist/Tattoo Parlor AU, Phoenix is the new guy at Gold Crown Flowers, and Joe is the new guy over at Club Tattoo. Together, these two have to deal with a conundrum: their co-workers are in love with each other and won't admit it. Fluffy, short-ish Braz & Bournoda story with POV switches.
Relationships: Chester Bennington/Brad Delson, Dave Farrell & Joe Hahn, Rob Bourdon/Mike Shinoda
Kudos: 1





	1. Floral Print

“...And so, Rob’ll put the deliveries out here on the edge of the counter, and the addresses should be on the bottom of the receipts. Got it?” Phoenix nodded his head yes at his new boss’ question as he finished tying the newer looking dark green apron around his waist. “Good. Oh, and one last thing: We’ve made “frenemies” with the tattoo shop across the street, so if one of them comes in asking if they could sit and practice drawing the flowers around here, give them a snarky and sarcastic yes.”

“Oh...kay...?” Phoenix agreed to the request, though it ended sounding more like a question than anything. Just then, the front door to Gold Crown Flowers opened wide, the bell hanging on it’s corner letting out a pleasant alert.

“What’s up, dickweeds?” A man in a white tank top, black cargo shorts with various chains dangling from different points, and matching black combat boots strolled in as two plainer dressed men followed suit. Brad let out a sigh before the corner of his mouth turned up into a smile.

“Hey Chester. What brings you here? Did your lip ring scare off your clientele this time, or was it your stretched out earlobes?”

“Nah, we’re just showing our newest employee, Joe, over here, a tour of what a good business looks like versus a bad one.” Chester’s shit-eating-grin made everyone in the room sure that what he said wasn’t actually serious. Joe, the heftier one of the two men Chester came in with, raised his hand in greeting for a moment before giving a small and awkward hello. Phoenix tried to make himself scarce by trying to quietly sneak off to the back room, but the tall and ever silent Rob had magically appeared in the doorway, an inquisitive-yet-stoic look on his face. Phoenix stopped dead in his tracks.

“ _ Ha ha, _ ” Brad said very sarcastically, “very funny. Phoenix, c’mere. I want you to meet someone,” Phoenix did as he was told, showing up at Brad’s side. “Phi, this is Chester, our  _ friend _ from across the street I was telling you about. He manages that dinky tattoo parlor.”

“Hey! That place is  _ not _ dinky— that is Club Tattoo’s  _ third _ store location! How many store locations do you have, Bradford?”

“Man,” one of the men Chester walked in with piped up. “I haven’t heard Brad’s real name since... what was it? Camp Wanna-Hock-A-Loogie?”

“Hey Mike, buddy, since we’re such good friends and everything, can you hit Chester for me?” Mike started coming after Chester playfully.

“No— you better not—” Chester said, laughing.

“Wait,” Phoenix interrupted, “you two know each other?”

“Yeah, we go back like car seats.” Brad confirmed. “Anyways, that annoying ass is Chester.”

“Hey, you love me and you know it.” To that, Brad rolled his eyes as his cheeks turned a shade of pink.

“And on his left is my old friend Mike, and on the other side is... uh, what was your name?”

“Joe.”

“Joe.” Brad repeated.

“Care to introduce us to your new guy?” Chester asked.

“Sure. This is Phoenix, our new delivery guy, and you guys know Rob.”

“Yeah, Mr. College Grad.” Chester said sarcastically.

“Sounds like somebody’s still a little jealous.” Rob shot back. Brad leaned close to Phoenix and quietly explained,

“I met Rob at a career fair at his college almost three years ago. He graduated a few months after we met with a Master’s in botany and he’s been working here ever since.”

“Ah...” Phoenix said.

“So, Chester,” Brad spoke back up in order to change topics, “you excited for Halloween?”

“Hell yeah, you know it!” Chester responded excitedly.

“Isn’t Halloween like, a month and a half away?” Phoenix asked quietly, not expecting a response.

“Actually, I had an idea earlier. Money says we could bring in more new customers than you guys during the Halloween parade.” Chester said.

“You’re on.” Brad agreed, and the two men shook hands. “See you later this afternoon for when you practice drawing flowers?”

“Yeppers.” And with that, the guys from Club Tattoo left, not before Mike gave a small wave goodbye in Rob’s direction, and Joe and Phoenix shared a look that begged the question, ‘what did we just get ourselves into?’


	2. Come On Brain, Think Of Things (Come On Brain, Be Real Smart)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both sides come up with plans.

“Okay, everybody gather ‘round.” Brad started. Rob and Phoenix did as they were told, dropping what they were doing and making their way to the counter. “Before we start the process of closing up shop for the day, I wanna have a meeting real quick. What are we gonna do for the bet?” There was a beat of silence before Phoenix bravely spoke into it.

“W...what about a flash sale?” Brad bit his lip in thought.

“I mean, that’s a contender, but I wanna here some more ideas before giving it the go ahead. What about handing out flyers?”

“No,” Rob said. “Shouldn’t there be like... more to it?”

“Okay,” Brad accepted, “how ‘bout this: we re-do how things are set up around here? Gold Crown Flowers has looked the same way since day 1.”

“I like that one.” Rob noted.

“Yeah, but we can do that anytime,” Phoenix said. “Listen.  Día de Muertos is a big deal around here, right? Why not cater to the big Mexican population and the need for marigolds by advertising coupons for those?”

“Way to go, new guy! Phi comes in with the big ideas!” Brad said excitedly. Suddenly, the bell on the door rang out. Brad quickly shut his mouth and readjusted his thick framed glasses a little. Rob’s cheeks grew a light shade of pink as Mike approached them.

“Chester sent me over here as punishment. I have to practice drawing flowers.” He explained.

“You’re making it sound worse than it is,” Brad chuckled.

“Well,  _ he _ thinks it’s punishment. I don’t mind getting out of there for some fresh air every once in a while.”

“Rob, can you grab him a folding chair and set him up over there?” Brad asked of his co-worker, pointing in the direction of the farther end of the store. Rob stumbled out a yes and did as he was told. Brad walked himself into the back room, leaving Phoenix to watch Rob nervously finish his task and return to the counter to start the process of preparing the last bouquet for delivery before wiping it down. As he was hanging out around the now quieter shop and rearranging bouquets in stands that really didn’t need it out of boredom, Phoenix couldn’t help but notice Rob and Mike, and the way Rob stole glances at Mike when he thought he wasn’t being watched. Suddenly, it clicked in Phoenix’s brain. Rob was harboring a crush on Mike. The door’s bell surprised him once again, pulling him out of his thoughts. Rob jumped at the bell’s ringing, eyes darting from Mike back to the flowers. It was Joe, quietly slipping into the shop, spotting Phoenix first and walking towards him.

“Hey, um, Phoenix, right?” Joe asked quietly.

“Yeah.” Phi responded just as quietly.

“Do you know where Mike is?”

“Over there— you came at the perfect time too, he’s been distracting Rob.” Joe looked at him curiously.

“How so?” Phoenix leaned in.

“I’m pretty sure Rob’s got a crush on him.”

“Oh, word?”

“Yeah. I know I’m only the new guy here, and I don’t wanna read too much into it, but it’s hard not to when it’s so obvious.”

“Maybe I should keep an eye on Mike, see if he looks back at him the same way.”

“That’s a good idea— keep me updated.”

“I will.” Joe said with a smile. He then walked in the direction of Mike and got his attention. “Mikey, time to go. Ches says punishment’s over.”

“Alright, hold on,” Mike responded, finishing up one last petal before getting up and making his way out of the door with Joe.

“Alright, see ya later!” Joe said to Phoenix and Rob, giving them a wave of his hand as they left. Mike and Joe walked in silence for the full minute it took to get to their home store across the street.

“Alright, good, Mike is finally back so we can now officially have our meeting.” Chester greeted them.

“Wait, meeting?” Mike asked.

“Yeah, I needed everyone here so we can discuss ideas for the Halloween parade.” It took some time in silence, but the looks on Mike and Joe’s faces made it clear that they were deep in thought.

“Oh!” Joe exclaimed. “We can offer free mastectomy tattoos!”

“Mm, I don’t know about that one,” Mike said hesitantly. “What about tattoo cover-up work for charity?”

“Now I like that idea.” Chester said. “But let’s get some more ideas out on the table.”

“What about a flash sale?!” Joe interrupted.

“Nah...” after another moment spent in silence, Chester’s brain popped out an idea. “I got it! A table full of merchandise to hand out!”

“I like it.” Joe said.

“Yeah, me too, but shouldn’t there be like... I don’t know...  _ more? _ ” Mike questioned.

“What about airbrush tattoos? Like, for the kids?”

“Yeah!” Chester said excitedly.


	3. It Hides in Tall Grass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike and Brad get caught in the act.

The decal on the narrow store’s front window hid him just enough, he was sure. Rob wouldn’t possibly notice him from where he was, his back facing the store as he watered the flowers outside. He sat in the front lounge area of Club Tattoo, attempting to practice sketches on a slow day. They were supposed to be of _things_ — basically nouns. Anything he could think of, really. None of them were supposed to be realistic drawings of his crush from across the street. Chester was the one who did tattoos of faces and people, anyways. Not him.

“Hey! There you are,” Joe said, making Mike jump out of his skin and slam his sketchbook shut. Joe laughed at Mike’s surprise. “Woah, didn’t mean to scare you, I... what were you looking at out there?”

“N-nothing—” Joe looked out the window to see what his co-worker was looking at, but nothing of significance caught his interest. He then gave Mike a curious glance before continuing.

“Um, I was just wondering if you knew where the extra rubbing alcohol went? I’m out.”

“Oh, uh, should be in the supply closet.”

“Okay, thanks.”

* * *

He sighed and reclined back in his office chair, happy to finally have that task done and over with. Who would’ve known that a simple thing like placing an ad in the local paper for coupons for flowers would be so complicated? Deciding he needed to get up and move a little bit, he went up front to see how things were going, but stopped in the doorway. It had been a slower day, and Chester had decided to come over to practice sketching. He had been quiet enough that Chester didn’t notice his arrival— if you could call standing in the doorway an arrival into a room— and he sat and enjoyed the sight in front of him: features that were normally caught up in an attempt to be tough, no matter how real that toughness was, were now made delicate in the soft sunlight trickling in through the windows as he doodled. The door’s bell rang suddenly and he got startled out of his thoughts. Chester looked in the direction of the noise immediately.

“Hey Phoenix.”

“Oh, hey, Chester.” Phoenix continued his way behind the counter and to the back rooms, where Brad had rushed back into his office, hiding in his embarrassment. “Hey, Brad. Just got done with the last delivery.”

“Alright, cool,” Brad replied, his voice cracking in the process and furthering his embarrassment.

“God, your face is  _ so red _ . Were you— did I accidentally catch you doing something?”

“No.”

“Then why’d you rush back here when I came in?”

“I didn’t—”

“Then what happened?”

“Nothing!” Brad exclaimed.

“Fine, alright!” Phoenix chuckled. “Jeez, calm down. If it helps, all I saw was you looking at the store, that’s it. You looked, like,  _ real _ deep in thought.”

“I was,” Brad said in a much calmer tone, a smile coming to his face.


	4. The Color Green

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crushes are revealed and confusion sets in.

Between clients, Chester and Mike got to talking in Chester’s office.

“You okay, Mike? You seem, like, out of it.” Chester commented.

“Yeah, I’m good. I just...” Mike sighed heavily. “I’ve got this crush, and he’s been on my mind way more lately.”

“What a mood.” Then, a beat of silence before he continued. “Well, tell me about him.”

“He, uh... he’s got this nice, beautiful brown hair, and beautiful brown eyes— but he wears these glasses sometimes so you wouldn’t always get to tell, and...” As Mike went vaguely on about his crush, Chester was reminded of his own crush: on Brad from across the street no less. He couldn’t just admit that he had a crush on their frienemy across the street though. Not to one of his co-workers. And from what it sounded like, Mike had a crush on him too. The realization of it made his heart sink to his stomach.

Later that day, they were up in the front room, bored before the work day officially ended and they could begin the process of closing up. Chester walked into the front lounge in search of Mike, needing his opinion on a sketch for a client he was expecting to come in the next day. He found him staring out the window, unaware of Chester’s presence— for the moment. He came up next to him, looking at Mike before trying to catch sight of what he was looking at before speaking. Mike had what Chester could only describe as heart eyes as he looked across the street at Brad and Rob speaking to each other, Rob with a hose in hand, clearly in the middle of watering their outdoor flowers. Chester loved the sight of Brad— at least for a moment, if not less, before remembering Mike’s recent admission. His heart broke a little more at the thought. Chester decided to clear his throat. Mike jumped, and proceeded to be embarrassed.

“Oh God! Sorry, I didn’t realize you were there. I was just, uh—”

“—looking at your crush?” Chester asked with an arched eyebrow and a broken heart, though he tried not to show it to his co-worker-turned-new-competitor. Mike blushed at the accusation. Mike began to stammer an answer, but Chester interrupted. “I just wanted your 2¢ on this sketch...”

* * *

Rob had just finished watering the flowers outside before closing time. Brad was getting papers in order back in his office as Rob dried off his hands, getting distracted in the process by something happening across the street. Looking out the large front window, Rob witnessed Chester and Mike emerge from the tattoo parlor and Chester turn to lock the door. His heart sped up at the sight of his crush.

“You ready to go?” Brad startled Rob out of his thoughts. This made Rob blush hard and his boss— and friend— chuckle. Rob had gotten a ride from Brad today since his car was in the shop, and Phoenix had already left for the day.

“Y-yeah, hold on,” Rob replied, throwing out the paper towel he was using, then taking off his apron and hanging it up on the hangers next to the door.

“What were you looking at out there?” Brad asked with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“No one, nothing.” Rob answered quickly, his face getting redder. Brad walked over to the window, and noticed Mike and Chester begin to walk away from the shop.

“Ahh,” Brad said in realization. “You got a crush, huh?”

“N-no, I-I—”

“On who? Mike?”

“N- _ no _ ,”

“Ohh, so it’s Chester?”

“No, I—” Rob sighed, giving up on any form of an explanation of the situation. But it was too late, Brad had already made his interpretation; Rob had a crush on Chester, the man he  _ also _ had a crush on. “Can we just go?”

“...Yeah.” It was a quiet and uncomfortable ride to the shop that Rob’s car was at.

* * *

“So  _ apparently, _ ” Phoenix started before taking a small sip of his beer, “since I found out that Rob’s got a crush on Mike, Brad found out too, but he thinks Rob’s got a crush on Chester.”

“Oh, see, that’s a problem, ‘cause I’ve found out on my own that Chester has a crush on Brad—”

“That’s the thing! Brad  _ does _ have a crush on Chester! He just  _ thinks _ that Rob’s got one on him too.”

“But he doesn’t; Rob’s crushing on Mike— or at least that’s what I thought,”

“No, you’re right! Rob and Mike are crushing on each other, and same with Brad and Chester, they just think that they have competition now when in reality it’s not what it seems.”

“Those four are being too confusing now. I’m officially not involved anymore.” Joe said, raising up his hands in defeat.

“Yeah, let’s just let them figure things out for themselves.”

“Okay. You ready for one last round?”

“You’re so on! I’m gonna knock down  _ way _ more pins than you this time!”

“Fine, but I bet I’m gonna get the first strike!” The two continued to argue and joke and bet over their bowling game for the remainder of the night.


	5. The Final Day

The day of the parade had finally arrived. Gold Crown Flowers was busy setting up their table— well, they were supposed to be anyways. With Phoenix inside of the shop to grab a few more vases for the bouquets, and Brad scrounging around for a box to use for transactions, Rob had decided to cross the street and chat with the only person manning Club Tattoo’s table.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Mike greeted him, crossing his bare arms and rubbing. “How’s your table coming along?”

“Good, I guess.”

“What’re you guys doing?”

“Coupons.” Rob responded lamely. “What about you?”

“Airbrush tattoos. God, I’m freezing. I didn’t think it’d be this cold today when I left my house.”

“Do you want to borrow my sweatshirt?”

“Wouldn’t you be cold though?” Mike asked as Rob began to slip out of his plain black hoodie.

“Yeah, but it’s okay, as long as you’re warm.”

* * *

The six men gathered outside of Club Tattoo, a few of them chattering away.

“Alright everyone! Time to name the winner!” Chester shouted. “And the one with the most sign-ups, for the grand prize of bragging rights for the rest of the year, is... Club Tattoo!”

“Hold on, hold on!” Joe said loudly. He proceeded to interrupt Chester’s announcement even further by stepping forward into the middle of the circle. Phoenix joined him. “Alright time for a switch up to the grand prize: instead of bragging rights, Brad, you take Chester here on a date, and Mike, you take Rob on a date, and Phi and I will gladly settle for this never happening ever again.”

“Woah woah woah, wait— you can’t just do that!” Chester argued.

“Yes he can!” Phi shot back. “Joe and I have had enough of all of the pining and yearning and confusion going on around here. Now Brad, you like Chester, right?” Brad nodded, clearly embarrassed. “And Rob, you like Mike, right?” Rob swallowed dryly and nodded as well, his face already beet red.

“And Chester, you like Brad back, right?” Joe asked of his boss.

“Y-yeah.”

“And Mike, you sure as hell like Rob back, right?”

“Uh, yeah.” Mike’s face was almost as red as Rob’s.

“Then date each other, you idiots! Stop trying to confuse Phi and I with all of the ‘Oh, I like him, but he also likes him, and what if he doesn’t like me back?’ nonsense! I’ve had enough!” Phoenix nodded in agreement.

“Alright Joe, damn! You don’t have to tell me twice.” Chester said, crossing over the invisible line that separated the two groups and grabbed Brad’s hand as he kept walking, dragging Brad along and asking where he wanted to get dinner. After they went on their way, Joe pushed Mike from behind towards Rob. Mike tried to wriggle away, flustered, but he couldn’t do so successfully before he was in Rob’s personal space.

“Thanks for doing that, Joe.” Phoenix said. “Never would’ve happened without your help. Now let’s leave these two lovebirds alone. I gotta get back to Linsey; I promised I’d be home in time to help prepare for our scary movie marathon with you and Heidi.” As the final pair of men walked away, both Mike and Rob were rubbing at the back of their necks uncomfortably as they prayed their ears would stop burning. It was an awkward and uncomfortable silence until Mike had the courage to speak into it.

“So... d’you like Italian? I know a good place downtown.”

“Yeah, sure. I’d like that.”

**THE END**


End file.
